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Minimum Wage Resource Clearinghouse

Issues: Wages and Benefits

Raising the national minimum wage would help workers and families across the country. To gather personal stories and useful resources on the importance of raising the minimum wage, earlier this year the Committee on Education and the Workforce Democrats called for submissions to a minimum wage e-Forum.

Below are some of the key findings on how increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 an hour would affect working families’ income, improve spending in local economies, sustain the quality and quantity of jobs, and support the health of local communities. If you would like to submit research, statements, or stories on the need to raise the minimum wage to the e-Forum, please visit the Committee on Education and the Workforce Democrats’ e-Forum webpage.

Worker Stories

Data and Graphics

Economic Impacts

State-by-State Information

Personal Effects

INDIVIDUAL WORKER STORIES:

“You’re not going to take a vacation making $7.25 an hour. You’re not going to be able to send your daughter or your son to college making $7.25 an hour. It’s extremely difficult to provide for yourself, not to mention your family. Make an attempt to take care of yourself and your family at $7.25 an hour and you’ll see how extremely difficult it is to do, if not impossible.” —George, a low-wage warehouse worker from Illinois

“I’ve worked for McDonald’s for 12 years and I’m still at poverty wage. It’s not fair. I support two kids myself. They don’t understand what mommy does to provide a roof, to provide and can still say ‘we’re ok.’ My eight year old is noticing and she’s my biggest supporter in this fight. She says ‘Mommy, you can’t give up.’ I’m fighting for all my colleagues and my community... We are the backbone for McDonald’s and other fast food companies that make millions and millions of dollars.” —Nancy, a minimum-wage worker from Illinois

"I have a two-year-old son, I'm trying to finish my college degree, and I make minimum wage working at Sears.... If I made more, I would be able to pay more bills on time and also be able to provide the basic life essentials for my family. I don't want the next generation to grow up in poverty."  —Amina, from Wisconsin

“Our company with 60 employees recently raised our corporate minimum wage to $12 per hour. I think it is unconscionable that business owners and managers can make hundreds of thousands per year...while their employees make a salary that is impossible to live on. Plus, I think the economics of putting more money in the pockets of those who need it and will spend it... makes total sense for our country.” —Stephen, a small business owner from Tennessee

“I know that we need this raise, because without it, none of us will make ends meet. I want to provide for my son and make a good life for him, but it’s impossible to make a good life on a minimum wage. With the raise in the minimum wage, I’ll be able to spend more time with my son, and see him grow up. Because I was at work all week, I missed my son’s first steps, and that hurt me more than anything because the one thing I want to do as a mother is to see my son grow, see his milestones, see him be a kid. But because I’m working, I can’t. I need to make sure my son has food, that he has formula and diapers, and I can’t do that working $8 an hour.” —Robyn, from Philadelphia

“I live in Southwest Philadelphia and I work at the Philadelphia International Airport. When I tell people that I work at the airport, they assume that I have a good job with good pay and benefits. The opposite is true.  I ONLY make $7.25 an hour with NO affordable benefits and NO personal or sick days. I don’t even have a break room where I can eat my lunch. I am a baggage handler and I break my back lifting over 1,000 bags per day.  I never thought that at age 22 I would be ruining my body for $7.25 an hour. This job has taken its toll on my back and shoulders and has made my scoliosis worse.  Getting by on $7.25 is not easy. I have to make a lot of sacrifices. I am a proud father of a 2 year-old girl named, Jasmine. I want to buy her the world but sometimes I can barely afford to get her a toy that she wants or take her to lunch. I am constantly juggling bills and my phone was recently cut off. Most of the time, I make sacrifices that affect me, and not my daughter, like working more hours or going without eating.  I am thankful for my grandma and my aunt. I live with them because I could never afford my own place on $7.25 an hour. There’s something very wrong with our city if someone working full-time, doing physically demanding work, cannot afford their own place. I am one of thousands of airport workers stuck making minimum wage. Thank you for hearing my story and my struggles. I hope this will touch you and make you realize that working at the airport isn’t as good as it seems. As hard working Philadelphians (just like Rocky over here who never gave up), we’re going to keep fighting for what’s right and what we deserve.” —Nate, from Philadelphia

I currently live in a homeless shelter, despite the fact that I work every day. I live with it every day. My time at the homeless shelter I stay at is about to be up, so I’m currently placed in a position where I’m going to be going from shelter to shelter to shelter. I live in poverty making $8.25 a hour. It doesn’t add up. I’m asking you all to support raising us and our fight for the minimum wage increase.“ —Gloria

"My partners and I made a decision to pay at least $9.00 per hour to our warehouse staff at a time when the minimum wage was $5.25 to $6.25. We were not a hugely profitable company, but it was important to us that we didn’t make our profits by mistreating our staff. After 9/11, we hit a rough path. We were on the verge of shutting down the company. I was upfront with our staff that our situation was not great, but I didn’t cut wages. The company survived the difficult period mostly thanks to our staff’s dedication. I believe that it is because I treated them fairly that our staff cared so much to pray for us and go the extra mile, and it worked!" —Tal, from Florida

“I spent a lifetime raising a family on minimum wage. Watching my son crying because he was still hungry. He didn’t want his big sister’s share. He cried because she would still be hungry. Try having the only meal your kids have is one can of Campbell’s between them. For the day.” —Julia, from Washington

“Right now, I am still living paycheck to paycheck. I work so hard, but it’s just impossible to save any money to get ahead or plan for emergencies. My daughter’s birthday is coming up and I don’t know how I can afford to get her a present in time. I keep telling myself that it’s going to get better. That it will get easier. But I just can’t imagine how or when. I do know that an increase in the minimum wage will help me, and so many others like me, who are working so hard but still struggling to provide for their families.” —Tabitha, a Dunkin' Donuts employee from Maine

DATA & GRAPHICS:

Economic Impacts

For more information from this source, click here.


For more information from this source, click here.

The majority of small business owners support raising the current national minimum wage from $7.25 to $10.10 per hour, and adjusting it annually to keep pace with the cost of living, according to a recent poll.

For more information from this source, click here.

For more information from this source, click here.

From the Center for Economic Policy and Research:

From the National Employment Law Center:

From Restaurant Opportunities Centers United:

From the National Women's Law Center:
Raising the minimum wage and the tipped minimum wage are important steps towards fair pay for women.

State-By-State Information


For more information from this source, click here.

For more information from this source, click here

This interactive map from the White House shows how a $10.10 minimum wage could help workers make ends meet, and how many workers in each state would be affected.

For more information from this source, click here.

This interactive map shows:

  • the share of working mothers of very young children working in low-wage occupations;
  • minimum wages;
  • the average cost of full-time infant care at child care centers; and
  • child poverty rates in each state.

For more information from this source , click here

This interactive map shows the minimum wage and tipped minimum wage in each state, plus:

  • The share of minimum wage workers who are women;
  • The next scheduled increase in the minimum wage; and
  • Any recent action on the minimum wage in the state legislature.

For more information from this source, click here

From the Center for Economic Policy and Research:
States That Raised Their Minimum Wage in 2014 Had Stronger Job Growth Than Those That Didn't

Personal Effects


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This living wage calculator  from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology estimates the cost of living in communities and regions across the country. The calculator lists typical expenses, the living wage and typical wages for the selected location. 


For more information from this source, click here.

For more information from this source, click here

About 22 million moms are working in the United States today. If the minimum wage were increased to $10.10, 4.7 million moms, over one-fifth of all working moms, and their families would get a raise.
For more information from this source, click here.

From the National Women's Law Center: 
"10 Reasons Raising the Minimum Wage to $10.10 Is a Women’s Issue"

From the Center for American Progress and the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment:
Raising the minimum wage to $10.10 would save taxpayers nearly $46 billion in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) expenditures over 10 years.

From the Economic Policy Institute:
 The Minimum Wage Used to be Enough to Keep Workers Out of Poverty – It’s Not Anymore

From the Leadership Conference Education Fund:

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